 Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Elijah Smith joined the Confederate military, with the intention of taking 19-year-old Andrew along with him.When Andrew Smith learned of this, he and another slave ran away, walking through the rain before presenting themselves to a Union Army regiment, the 41st Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, in Smithland, Kentucky.Smith was taken in by the 41st Illinois and became a servant to Major John Warner at the regiment's post in nearby Paducah, Kentucky.